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The Power of God?

by Michael L. Brown

Michael L. Brown is a columnist on Townhall.com who writes thoughtful essays dealing with Christianity and it’s place in the world today. I receive the “Townhall Daily” email and always read the Michael Brown column as it is informative although often upsetting as it deals with yet another rabid attack by the secular left on Christians and Christianity. Another email I receive daily is from Bookbub, with a daily choice of inexpensive or free ebooks, chosen based on criteria I have chosen for the types of books I would like to read. Recently there was a Michael L. Brown double book listed, Whatever Happened to the Power of God? & It’s Time to Rock the Boat. The price (free) was right and I enjoy his columns, so I grabbed it for my kindle. (The free offer has expired.)

Whatever Happened to the Power of God?

In the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament the Power of God is very apparent. Paul brings Eutychus back from the dead. (Acts 20:9-12) Paul is bitten by a viper and is fine. (Acts 28:3-6) People touch a cloth that had touched Paul and are cured of all manner of diseases. The power of the Holy Spirit is everywhere, Peter addresses a crowd and about 3000 are converted. The prisoner Paul speaks before Felix and Felix is so afraid at the prisoner’s words that he sends him away before he had finished talking.

What’s the story now? In the USA there is very little of the Power of God visible today. Throughout history the Power of God has seemed to rise and fall. God does not play second fiddle, and Brown shows how the Power of God is evident when the people are sincerely doing God’s will. When the poeple reject God and fall away by worshipping idols or doing evil God’s Power becomes less evident. When the people return to God, the Power of God once again becomes evident. In Whatever Happened to the Power of God? Brown demonstrates how in the USA (and much of the Western World) the Gospel as preached today has become a pale version of what Paul, Peter, and the Apostles were preaching in the first century. We must sincerely invite the Holy Spirit to come and Baptise us as the first century saints were baptised, realizing that when it happens we will be faced with the true Power of God here on earth, with all that it implies. Ananias lied to the Holy Spirit, holding back some of the money he got for selling a piece of property. When Peter asked Ananias why he lied to God about the money he fell to the floor, dead. Later Sapphira, wife of Ananais, came in and Peter asked her if the amount Ananais had reported was correct. She said yes, Peter confronted her on it, and she fell dead, so the men returning from burying Ananias took her and buried her beside him. God’s power is nothing to be trifled with.

It’s Time to Rock the Boat

In Whatever Happened to the Power of God? Brown shows us the shortcomings of the Church in the western world, and more specifically in the United States. In It’s Time to Rock the Boat he presents a plan of action to get things back on track. It’s introduced with his writing a letter to the the President of a Grocery Chain suggesting the sexually suggestive magazines should not be displayed at the checkouts were young children would see them. Promoting adultery and immorality is anti-God and anti-family. After a meeting the store did nothing, so they started a petition. It was picked up by a newspaper and as we would say today, it went viral. As a result Brown ended up with an opportunity to preach the Gospel through many media outlets. The moral of the story is that whenever God leads one to confront sin in society it will result in a platform to preach the Gospel. The book is a call to rise up and preach a confrontational Gospel. As the title says, It’s Time to Rock the Boat.

This double book is a powerful package. It has given me a lot to pray about. If you leave church after the service wondering why God’s Power doesn’t seem to be shaking things up the way it did in the book of Acts, read the two books in this volume.

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